[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 86 (Monday, May 4, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26470-26472]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-09379]
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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection;
Comment Request; Extension
AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA),
the Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission) is seeking public
comment on its proposal to extend for an additional three years the
Office of
[[Page 26471]]
Management and Budget (OMB) clearance for information collection
requirements in its Fuel Rating Rule (the Rule). The current clearance
expires on July 31, 2020.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before July 6, 2020.
ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a comment online or on paper by
following the instructions in the Request for Comments part of the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write ``Fuel Rating Rule; PRA
Comment: FTC File No. P072108'' on your comment, and file your comment
online at https://www.regulations.gov by following the instructions on
the web-based form. If you prefer to file your comment on paper, mail
your comment to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office
of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite CC-5610 (Annex J),
Washington, DC 20580, or deliver your comment to the following address:
Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, Constitution Center,
400 7th Street SW, 5th Floor, Suite 5610 (Annex J), Washington, DC
20024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Hampton Newsome, Attorney, Division of
Enforcement, Federal Trade Commission, Room CC-9528, 600 Pennsylvania
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20580, (202) 326-2889.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Fuel Rating Rule (the Rule), 16 CFR part 306.
OMB Control Number: 3084-0068.
Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
Likely Respondents:
(a) Recordkeeping: Refiners, Producers, Importers, Distributors,
and Retailers of the Covered Fuel Types.
(b) Disclosure: Retailers of the Covered Fuel Types.
Estimated Annual Burden Hours: 32,907 (derived from 13,417
recordkeeping hours added to 19,490 disclosure hours).
Estimated Annual Labor Costs: $389,646.
Estimated Annual Capital or Other Non-labor Costs: $77,960.
Abstract:
The Fuel Rating Rule, 16 CFR part 306 (OMB Control Number: 3084-
0068), establishes standard procedures for determining, certifying, and
disclosing the octane rating of automotive gasoline and the automotive
fuel rating of alternative liquid automotive fuels, as required by the
Petroleum Marketing Practices Act. 15 U.S.C. 2822(a)-(c). The Rule also
requires refiners, producers, importers, distributors, and retailers to
retain records showing how the ratings were determined, including
delivery tickets or letters of certification.
Under the PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501-3521, the FTC is requesting that OMB
renew the clearance for the PRA burden associated with the Rule.
Burden statement:
Estimated annual burden hours: 32,907 (derived from 13,417
recordkeeping hours added to 19,490 disclosure hours).
Recordkeeping: Based on industry sources, staff estimates that
approximately 161,000 fuel industry members \1\ each incur an average
annual burden of approximately five minutes to ensure retention of
relevant business records \2\ for the period required by the Rule,
resulting in a total of 13,417 hours.
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\1\ Staff derived the number of fuel industry members by adding
the number of refiners, producers, importers, distributors, and
retailers of these types of fuel. Staff consulted government
agencies and industry sources in estimating a population of
approximately 161,000 fuel industry members, including 155,920
retailers of automotive fuel. Some of the government websites
reviewed to update these numbers include: http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/pet_pnp_cap1_dcu_nus_a.htm (Gasoline Producers); http://www.eia.gov/biofuels/biodiesel/production/ (Biodiesel Producers);
http://www.afdc.energy.gov/fuels/ (Alternative Fuel Stations);
http://www.nacsonline.com/YourBusiness/FuelsReports/2015/Documents/2015-NACS-Fuels-Report_full.pdf (Petroleum Stations).
\2\ Under the Fuel Rating Rule, refiners, producers, importers,
distributors, and retailers of automotive fuel must retain, for one
year, records of any delivery tickets, letters of certification, or
tests upon which they based the automotive fuel ratings that they
certify or post. See the Fuel Rating Rule's recordkeeping
requirements, 16 CFR 306.7; 306.9; and 306.11.
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Disclosure: Staff estimates that affected industry members incur an
average burden of approximately one hour to produce, distribute, and
post octane rating labels. Because the labels are durable, only about
one of every eight industry member retailers (19,490 of 155,920
industry member retailers) incur this burden each year, resulting in a
total annual burden of 19,490 hours.
Estimated annual labor costs: $389,646.
Labor costs are derived by applying appropriate hourly cost figures
to the burden hours described above. Here, the average hourly wages of
refiners, producers, distributors, and importers is $34.94.\3\ The
average hourly wages of retailers is $11.54.\4\ The recordkeeping
component, 13,417 hours, consists of approximately 423 hours for
producers, distributors, and importers; and 12,994 hours for retailers.
Thus, the total annual labor cost for recordkeeping is $164,731 ((423
hours x $34.94) + (12,994 hours x $11.54/hour)). The disclosure
component, which concerns retailers, is approximately 19,490 hours.
Thus, total annual labor cost for disclosure is $224,915 (19,490 hours
x $11.54/hour).
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\3\ See http://www.bls.gov/iag/tgs/iag211.htm#earnings (Bureau
of Labor Statistics, May 2019 Occupational Employment Statistics,
Hourly mean wages for petroleum pump system operators, refinery
operators, and gaugers).
\4\ See http://www.bls.gov/iag/tgs/iag447.htm (Bureau of Labor
Statistics, May 2019 Occupational Employment Statistics, Hourly mean
wages for service station attendants).
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Estimated annual non-labor costs: $77,960.
Staff believes that the Rule does not impose any capital costs for
producers, importers, or distributors of fuels. Retailers, however,
incur the cost of procuring and replacing fuel dispenser labels to
comply with the Rule. Staff conservatively estimates that the price per
automotive fuel label is two dollars and that the average automotive
fuel retailer has six dispensers; thus, $12 labeling cost at inception
per retailer.\5\ Staff has previously estimated a dispenser useful life
range of 6 to 10 years and, based on that, assumed a useful life of 8
years for labels, the mean of that range. Given that, replacement
labeling will not be necessary for well beyond the relevant period at
issue, i.e., the immediate 3-year PRA clearance sought. However,
conservatively annualizing the $12 labeling cost at inception per
retailer over that shorter period rather than average useful life,
annualized labeling cost per retailer will be $4. Cumulative labeling
cost would thus be $77,960 (155,920 retailers x 1/8 \6\ x $4 each,
annualized).
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\5\ See 75 FR 12,470, 12,477 (Mar. 16, 2010) (proposed
rulemaking) (estimating the price range per pump to be one to two
dollars).
\6\ On average, each label needs to be replaced once every 8
years. Annualizing this cost equates to \1/8\ or 0.125.
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Request for Comments
Pursuant to Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA, the FTC invites
comments on: (1) Whether the proposed collection of information is
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency,
including whether the information will have practical utility; (2) the
accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed
collection of information, including the validity of the methodology
and assumptions used; (3) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and
clarity of the information to be collected; and (4) ways to minimize
the burden of maintaining records and providing disclosures to
consumers. All comments must be received on or before July 6, 2020.
You can file a comment online or on paper. For the FTC to consider
your comment, we must receive it on or before July 6, 2020. Write
``Fuel Rating
[[Page 26472]]
Rule; PRA Comment: FTC File No. P072108'' on your comment. Postal mail
addressed to the Commission is subject to delay due to heightened
security screening. As a result, we encourage you to submit your
comments online. To make sure that the Commission considers your online
comment, you must file it through the https://www.regulations.gov
website by following the instructions on the web-based form provided.
Your comment--including your name and your state--will be placed on the
public record of this proceeding, including the https://www.regulations.gov website.
If you file your comment on paper, write ``Fuel Rating Rule; PRA
Comment: FTC File No. P072108'' on your comment and on the envelope,
and mail your comment to the following address: Federal Trade
Commission, Office of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite
CC-5610 (Annex J), Washington, DC 20580, or deliver your comment to the
following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary,
Constitution Center, 400 7th Street SW, 5th Floor, Suite 5610 (Annex
J), Washington, DC 20024. If possible, submit your paper comment to the
Commission by courier or overnight service.
Because your comment will be placed on the public record, you are
solely responsible for making sure that your comment does not include
any sensitive or confidential information. In particular, your comment
should not include any sensitive personal information, such as your or
anyone else's Social Security number; date of birth; driver's license
number or other state identification number, or foreign country
equivalent; passport number; financial account number; or credit or
debit card number. You are also solely responsible for making sure that
your comment does not include any sensitive health information, such as
medical records or other individually identifiable health information.
In addition, your comment should not include any ``trade secret or any
commercial or financial information which . . . . is privileged or
confidential''--as provided by Section 6(f) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C.
46(f), and FTC Rule 4.10(a)(2), 16 CFR 4.10(a)(2)--including in
particular competitively sensitive information such as costs, sales
statistics, inventories, formulas, patterns, devices, manufacturing
processes, or customer names.
Comments containing material for which confidential treatment is
requested must be filed in paper form, must be clearly labeled
``Confidential,'' and must comply with FTC Rule 4.9(c). In particular,
the written request for confidential treatment that accompanies the
comment must include the factual and legal basis for the request, and
must identify the specific portions of the comment to be withheld from
the public record. See FTC Rule 4.9(c). Your comment will be kept
confidential only if the General Counsel grants your request in
accordance with the law and the public interest. Once your comment has
been posted publicly at www.regulations.gov, we cannot redact or remove
your comment unless you submit a confidentiality request that meets the
requirements for such treatment under FTC Rule 4.9(c), and the General
Counsel grants that request.
The FTC Act and other laws that the Commission administers permit
the collection of public comments to consider and use in this
proceeding as appropriate. The Commission will consider all timely and
responsive public comments that it receives on or before July 6, 2020.
You can find more information, including routine uses permitted by the
Privacy Act, in the Commission's privacy policy, at https://www.ftc.gov/site-information/privacy-policy.
Josephine Liu,
Assistant General Counsel for Legal Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2020-09379 Filed 5-1-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P